Euthanasia

[ren_leung]

wat is ur viewpnt on euthanasia?

i hav a christian friend hu's mother is in her mid-80s, and is chances r mostly shes not gonna come out of her coma.
my friend is considering euthanasia.

the 1st opinion i heard from a christian about this topic was saying that euthanasia is murder and lack of faith in God.

but i think not necessarily.
God told many ppl in the old testament that they were soon 2 die, and they accepted death with comfort (generally in 'a ripe old age'). Otherwise, they could faithfully pray for a longer life, and delay death, like Hezekiah.
but even in the new testament, theres Jesus, at His young age, who new wen it was His time 2 commend His Spirit to God. He could've ran away and avoided death at the time. and also consider the many apostles who got martyred.

wat i draw from these examples is that whether euthanasia is the way 2 go is a personal matter. it is btwn the ppl involved and God. mayb God tells them it is time; or mayb God wants them 2 b faithful a see the person miraculously come back 2 life.
theres no definite answer of whether euthanasia is rite.

im not an experienced christian... 1.5yrs... so i want 2 noe wat others think.

repliez!

 

[Cerberus~]

Most ppl who would complain about this and say you're playing God, and all that hooha, they never seem to recognize the fact that most of the ppl eligable for euthanasia would already be dead if it wasn't for artificial, man-made means.

When did Christians become so afraid of death?

 

[NothingButTheBlood]

As a Christian I have no problem with someone having a living will and not wanting machines, tubes and such. Removing someone from all forms of man made intervention and overdosing them to kill them are two different things. I have no problem letting someone go naturally with medication to ease pain but assisted suicide and euthanasia are suicide and murder to me.

 

[Kroger99]

Most ppl who would complain about this and say you're playing God, and all that hooha, they never seem to recognize the fact that most of the ppl eligable for euthanasia would already be dead if it wasn't for artificial, man-made means.

When did Christians become so afraid of death?

I'm not afraid of death at all. I'm a little concerned about how I die though.

For those that need life support to keep the A,B,C's functioning for the remainder of their days....I agree... Turn the machines off and let them go home, wherever home is.

Now, with that said..... I think that Euthanasia is Killing them before God is ready for them. I think it is playing God and those who perform this will have to answer for it...if not in this life....the next.

 

[Cerberus~]

Why is it wrong to control your own death? Again you've made death out to be the enemy. What's wrong what weighing the quality of life against quantity of life?

 

[Lycaenidae]

Why is it wrong to control your own death? Again you've made death out to be the enemy. What's wrong what weighing the quality of life against quantity of life?

They'll probably go into some blah-blah about how you're usurping control over your death from God. But if that's the case, why bother to go to the doctor at all? If God can work through a doctor's hands to cure you, why can't God work through a doctor's hands to euthanize you to end your suffering?

 

[StromRider]

I am very much in support of euthanasia (especially in some cases ) But really, to me it's a quality of life issue. I don't want to be a turnip kept alive by artificial means with my family stuck with me being 'alive' and not being able to move on.

And my wife, a supposed catholic (but really a deist), empatically stated to me she doesn't want to end up like Schiavo - she wants me to pull the plug!!

As Lycaenidae stated, all this god's will stuff is a crock. If it was all god's will we wouldn't have doctors and modern medicine and people would just pray to god to cure them of cancer and grevious wounds. And they would die like they did before the advances in modern medicine.

My life is mine, if I want to hasten it's end so be it. If a close relative - spouse, child has indicated they don't want to be kept alive in certain circumstances then I should have the right to honour those wishes.

Stop trying to impose your interpretation of morality on everyone else.

 

[The Seeker]

If somebody wants to die then that is up to them, I don't see why they shouldn't be allowed to make that choice. It is their life, after all.

 

[Kroger99]

Why is it wrong to control your own death? Again you've made death out to be the enemy. What's wrong what weighing the quality of life against quantity of life?

Well...You can control your own death. Alls you need is the guts to pull the trigger. I just don't reccommend it because of that "blah-blah stuff" that Lycaenidae likes to mock here lately.

 

[PookySmiley]

I agree that if you're at the end of your life and you don't want any extraordinary measures taken to extend your life, head over to hospice and let them ease your way to heaven. If you decide you want to die, have active part in choosing to die, that is suicide. God will call you home when it's time. If it's not your time yet, He may have work for you to do yet. Our technology has outstripped our morality.

 

[Cerberus~]

Well...You can control your own death. Alls you need is the guts to pull the trigger.

True. But a peaceful passing with the aid of a doctor offers a certain respect and dignity that a barrel in the mouth just seems to lack. Plus, some ppl actually might want to have an open casket funeral. Hard to do with half the head gone.

 

[Cerberus~]

God will call you home when it's time. If it's not your time yet, He may have work for you to do yet.

Have you ever considered that maybe God works though euthanasia?

 

[PookySmiley]

Have you ever considered that maybe God works though euthanasia?

Yes, I have. That is a decision that each person has to make. If they feel God says it's okay, that's their choice. I feel that if God wants you dead, He'll kill you.

 

[Kroger99]

True. But a peaceful passing with the aid of a doctor offers a certain respect and dignity that a barrel in the mouth just seems to lack. Plus, some ppl actually might want to have an open casket funeral. Hard to do with half the head gone.

Ahhhh... You think that someone else should pull the trigger....right?
Yes....Thats much more dignified....lol

Have you ever considered that maybe God works though euthanasia?

Considered? YES
Agreed with it? NO

 

[The Seeker]

Yes, I have. That is a decision that each person has to make. If they feel God says it's okay, that's their choice. I feel that if God wants you dead, He'll kill you.

But if he wants to keep you alive, he'll let somebody else take care of it?

 

[Kroger99]

But if he wants to keep you alive, he'll let somebody else take care of it?

I don't think so, but He may "use" someone else to do it.

And no....I don't think God uses Doctors to end lives though...lol

 

[Lycaenidae]

I don't think so, but He may "use" someone else to do it.

And no....I don't think God uses Doctors to end lives though...lol

This is so illogical it makes my brain bleed.

 

[PookySmiley]

But if he wants to keep you alive, he'll let somebody else take care of it?

Yup

 

[The Seeker]

Yup

So God can work through human being to do some things but not others? Whatever happened to the whole "omnipotence" thing?

To be honest, this whole thing is a red herring anyway, IMO. The "will of God" is irrelevant when it comes to legal matters.

 

[Chajara]

What I never understood was that when an animal is in terrible pain and has no chance of recovery, putting it to sleep is merciful and humane. Yet humans are supposed to suffer for months until whatever they have kills them? Doing the same thing for them that we do for animals all of a sudden becomes murder? Doesn't jive with me.

It's my belief that God doesn't intervene too much unless He has to, or that when He does he's very subtle and you don't realize it until later. I don't think He'd sit up there and say "Yeah, you got another month. Sorry you're in pain, but I haven't decided to have you die yet."

Honestly, I think that we're already "playing God" just by prolonging our own lives. It's a matter of circumstances. If you're in a 3rd world country with no sanitation, poor nutrition, and poor medicine, you don't get to live to the ripe old age of 70. You're lucky if you make it to 50.

The ability to euthanize is just another circumstance, but this time we have the ability to end someone's suffering peacefully and quietly. The problem is that somehow a human's life is somehow "worth something", even if that human is writhing in pain and desperately just wants it to end. To me, that's not a life anymore. That life has been reduced to nothing, and it's better to just end it.